PEORIA — The year ahead looks to usher in another era of change to the central Illinois business community.

First, as a health care center, Peoria enters 2014 with two major hospitals, not three.

After more than a century as Proctor Hospital, it's now UnityPoint Health-Proctor. The former Methodist Medical Center joined the UnityPoint network in 2011.

As the Affordable Care Act becomes law for millions of Americans, the winds of change are blowing in the medical industry. Consolidation and realignment of medical complexes are part of that change.

In the spring of 2014, Kewanee Hospital will become part of OSF Healthcare as OSF Saint Luke Medical Center.

"We're entering a major transformational period in health care, we don't know what the future holds," said Gary Jepson, CEO of the 98-bed Pekin Hospital in Pekin.

Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc. is looking for change in 2014, specifically in the mining industry that's been in the doldrums for over a year.

After 2013, a year chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman described as "painful," with Caterpillar closing plants and laying off workers worldwide to cut costs, the hope is for better things ahead.

"From an economic standpoint, the company expects better world growth in 2014," said Oberhelman in the company's third-quarter economic report, delivered in October.

But there are still clouds on the horizon, said the Caterpillar CEO. "The direction of U.S. fiscal and monetary policy remains uncertain; Eurozone economies are far from healthy and China continues to transition to a more consumer-demand led economy," he said.

But it's mining that needs to dig its way out of trouble. "Despite higher mine production around the world, new orders for mining equipment remain very low. As a result, the company is holding its outlook for 2014 sales and revenues flat with 2013 in a plus or minus 5 percent range," noted Oberhelman.

"We're not seeing bright spots in mining yet, but the turnaround will happen at some point, and when it does, we'll be ready to respond," he added.

Housing

In the new year, area builders stand ready to respond to the needs of communities battered by a Nov. 17 tornado that ravaged Washington and surrounding areas.

But work to repair and rebuild over 1,000 homes that were destroyed won't be completed in just one year, said Bob Brady, owner of Bloomington-based Keystone Homes. "There's so much work out there for everybody. It's going to take time," he said.

"There are a lot of high-quality homes in central Illinois. It takes four to six months to build those homes but in 10 seconds, they were gone," said Brady.

"The building community is coming together. It's going to take all of us to get people back in their homes," he said.

Page 2 of 2 - High tech

The year 2014 is also likely to see more activity on the technology front in Peoria. Startup Peoria, part of Seattle-based Startup America, had its first event in November at Bradley University and looks to promote new ideas in the future, said Startup Peoria co-founder Amy Lambert.

Prospective and practicing entrepreneurs now meet on a regular basis — at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Thirty-Thirty Coffee Co., 734 Main St., for a program called 1 Million Cups, the chance to hear two six-minute accounts of those involved in entrepreneurial activity, said Jake Hamann, CEO of OneFire Media, located in the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center, 801 W. Main St.

The Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation developed the Million Cups format that's already a regular event in 20 other cities across the country.

Joining 20 other states across the country, medical marijuana will become legal in Illinois in 2014 but don't expect to see much business activity right away, said Peoria attorney Rodney Nordstrom.

"Estimates are it could take up to a year after the law takes effect Jan. 1," he said, pointing to three separate state agencies having to work out details of the sale of cannabis that could be sold in up to 60 dispensaries across the state.